The Last Hope/Chapter 12
Chapter description :Lionblaze wakes up to Jayfeather hissing him repeatedly. The dream from the night stays conscious in his mind, especially the cavern with the ugly blind tom. He hauls himself out of his nest and scans the area for Jayfeather. The medicine cat appears beside him quickly demanding that they talk about what they had just spent all night dreaming about. Lionblaze asks his brother if Dovewing is away, to which he replies he has woken her before him. Dovewing slowly walks out of her den, exhausted. Jayfeather quickly runs to the thorny tunnel, ahead of Lionblaze and Dovewing. :Dovewing is finally awake and realizes what has occurred in the last few hours. She asks Jayfeather if she shared dreams with him and Lionblaze, to which Jayfeather nods. Lionblaze questions his brother asking if he knew those cats. Jayfeather dismisses his question saying it is not of any importance at the moment. Dovewing anxiously walks around the small area they are gathered in, saying she doesn't understand how the ancients must feel. Jayfeather quickly explains they need to find the fourth cat of the prophecy sooner than later. :Dovewing admits that the fourth cat is not Ivypool, and Jayfeather shakes his head saying Dovewing also isn't the fourth cat. Lionblaze outbursts saying it has to be his sister, Hollyleaf. He thinks to himself the reasons why she has to be the fourth cat. Dovewing implicating that she doesn't agree believes the three are looking in the wrong place. Jayfeahter snorts to the gray she-cat, sarcastically saying that they should tell Firestar to ask the Clans at the next Gathering to stick their tail in the air if they are the fourth cat. Dovewing ignores his sarcasm and tells the blind medicine cat and the golden warrior they have to be overlooking. Lionblaze announces once again that it is Hollyleaf they are looking for. Dovewing tells Lionblaze that if it is not their sister, they have to be on the lookout for a cat who has a similar destiny. Dovewing suggests Breezepelt but Jayfeather reminds her that it has to be kin of Firestar's kin. Dovewing argues that the new prophecy could be different as it is not a prophecy from StarClan but the ancients. Lionblaze starts turning away from their tiny group, telling them he's going to find out if Hollyleaf is the fourth cat. :Brambleclaw is below the Highledge, cleaning himself, sleeplessly. Lionblaze falls beside Cinderheart as they make their way to the deputy. Without looking at him, Cinderheart asks Lionblaze if he's feeling alright, hearing his bad dreams. Lionblaze ends the conversation with a short reply saying they were just dreams. Lionblaze comments a second afterward, apologizing that he shouldn't change his destiny where too many lives lay in his paws. Cinderheart understood what Lionblaze was talking about, telling the ThunderClan warrior the Clan comes first. He leaves the she-cat behind to go talk to Brambleclaw. :Lionblaze asks his father if he can hunt with Hollyleaf. Brambleclaw focuses on him, asking if it were just the two of them. Lionblaze nods his head and Brambleclaw accepts. Lionblaze invites the black warrior to join him on a hunt, and Hollyleaf asks who will be joining them. Lionblaze replies saying it is just the two of them. The two make small talk as they walk into the forest. Hollyleaf asks Lionblaze where they should start to hunt. Lionblaze inquires his sister about the stream. Hollyleaf agrees and suggests they go through the beech copse. :As Lionblaze and Hollyleaf run through the woods, he recalls his time as an apprentice. Suddenly, Hollyleaf runs to the side and leaps into the stream nd starts swimming. Lionblaze calls out to his sister, asking if she has become a RiverClan cat. She exclaims that it could be the last warm day of leaf-fall. Lionblaze reluctantly walks into the water. The two walk back onto the bank of the stream and the golden tom challenges the black she-cat to a race to the beeches as a test to see her speed. He notices her trailing farther and farther behind and tests her to see how high she can climb afterward. Before Lionblaze could ask his sister for another challenge, she notices a squirrel in the trees and disappears quickly. Lionblaze tries to call for the black she-cat but there was no answer. Fearful, he checks the ground to see if she has fallen. :Hollyleaf pokes her head out of a bush of leaves with a dead squirrel hanging from her jaws. She asks her brother if she has passed the assessment. Lionblaze admits that he was testing her to see if she was apart of the prophecy. Hollyleaf disagrees full-heartedly to being connected to the prophecy. She brings up the moment she killed Ashfur out of spite and anger because of their birth, and how she is trying her hardest to make it up to her Clan. Lionblaze continues to press that all of her skills are proof that she has to be the fourth cat, but Hollyleaf denies and says that it is proof that she is a warrior just like the other cats in ThunderClan. Lionblaze gives up trying to convince himself that his sister could be apart of the prophecy. Hollyleaf closes Lionblaze's lingering suspicions saying she was made like every warrior and her only destiny she knows of is to protect him, Jayfeather, Dovewing to fulfill their destiny. Lionblaze sighs, telling her that he wishes she was the fourth cat. Hollyleaf reminds him not to give up, and that StarClan won't let them fail. Characters Major *Hollyleaf }} Minor *Rock *Dovewing *Brambleclaw *Cinderheart }} Mentioned *Mothwing *Firestar *Breezepelt *Spiderleg *Ferncloud *Foxleap *Toadstep *Ashfur *Leafpool *Squirrelflight }} Notes and references Category:The Last Hope Category:Chapter subpages Category:Omen of the Stars arc